A baby girl born in Dubai on August 14 has made history.
Mia Sztulman Starosta is the first Israeli infant to be born in the UAE since the Abraham Accords.
Her father, Ilan Sztulman Starosta, is head of the mission for the consulate of Israel to Dubai, and her mother, Jacqueline, is the economic advisor there.
They moved to the emirate for the roles six months ago.
All our other children were born in Israel, but Mia is the first Israeli to be born in the UAE, after the Abraham Accords, which of course is emotional for me
Ilan Sztulman Starosta,
head of mission for the Israeli consulate in Dubai
Mia is their fifth child and weighed a healthy 2.9 kilograms when she was born.
Mr Sztulman Starosta told The National the symbolism of her birth in an Arab country was important to him and his wife.
“We actually requested to come to Dubai,” he said.
“All our other children were born in Israel, but Mia is the first Israeli to be born in the UAE, after the Abrahamic Accords, which of course is emotional for me.
“The Abraham Accords felt like having a dream when it became true. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we’ve been involved in so many attempts to get to peace moving, and suddenly we managed to break through.”
A birthday and an anniversary
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, inaugurated Israel’s consulate in Dubai in June and described it as a “centre for co-operation”.
Mia was born days after the Israelis and Emiratis celebrated the anniversary of the Abraham Accords, which were agreed on August 13 last year.
The Accords normalised the relationship between Israel and the UAE, and also between Bahrain and Israel, meaning overt trade, travel and business could start.
Within weeks, regular commercial flights started between the UAE and Tel Aviv, and more than 200,000 Israelis have visited the Emirates. That number would probably have been higher were it not for the pandemic.
Mr Sztulman Starosta said Mia’s birth was easy, but now he needs to deal with her documentation.
“We haven’t started consular services yet, so her passport will be the first to be issued here,” he said.
“I’ve got to get all sorts of permits and stamps, so it’s going to take me a few weeks.
“Then we’ll be able to take her back home to see my other kids and my family.”
Watch: One year on - what are the Abrahamic Accords?
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
